5 Weeks Old and Ella
Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 8:42PM 
Ella is Roxie's daughter and well Roxie is pretty amazing as she allowed Ella to play with her pups. You could see her body tightening for a few seconds then she looked at Nathan and he said it's okay Roxie. Ella won't hurt your babies and she relaxed.
Tomorrow night we hope to take the pups upstairs and mom to bed with us. We do this not to wean them. Mom weans them when it is time. We do this to start the journey of independence from mom. It works for us. Not everyone does it this way but we do as we found it makes for an easier transition when they go home.
We are also able to extend their sleep time this way. By the time they go home they are usually sleeping from 10 till 7am. Without mom interrupting and checking on them they manage to sleep longer. Plus this also allows us to sterilize their xpens. At night they go to a clean fun area with different things in it with a camera so we can watch, a crate, a pad and lots of toys and comfie beds. Then Dennis sterilizes the xpen downstairs and sets it up so they come to a fresh clean environment again in the morning. Mom feeds them at this stage about 4 times a day allowing them to eat food more and more. It's not usually till week 8ish that mom starts growling them off telling them the milk bar is closed. Sometimes it is earlier and sometimes the dogs persist. Until they 'get' it mom can't play with them as they descend on her like locusts.
How do we know it is time? Mom let's you know as she extends the time between feedings. Roxie will now allow them to eat food and drink water before she enters the xpen getting them to eat solids. She knows they can't completely rely on her for all their nourishment.
It has begun.
Tomorrow - if I can get the room set up - well it will be their first night upstairs. I am struggling to make it happen as that room is a mess at the moment. I use it as storage for whelping boxes, blankets, toys etc. You see the room where our daughter was used to be that storage room so it was an easier process but we were crammed in with 2 grand daughters and a daughter and now we have room back. So, I need to get back to the system that worked.
So tomorrow - perhaps...
Reader Comments (1)
So interesting that Roxie looked to Nathan for reassurance. She is an amazing mom.